Global IT spend to grow next year

Driven by software and IT services, Gartner says.

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Global IT spending is expected to grow 2.9 per cent in 2017, compared to this year. This is according to Gartner's latest report. The spending, which is expected to hit $3.5 trillion in 2017, will be mostly fuelled by software and IT services spend. Software spending is expected to grow six per cent this year, and 7.2 per cent the next ($357 billion total). IT services spending will grow 3.9 per cent this year, and 4.8 per cent the next, reaching $943 billion.

Gartner also touched on the topic that’s been fairly hot for the past few months – how will Brexit affect IT spending?

"The immediate impact of Brexit has caused modest growth in IT spending to turn negative for 2016," said John-David Lovelock, research vice president at Gartner. "Without the UK, global IT spending growth would have been modestly positive at 0.2 per cent in 2016, but with the UK included, IT spending is expected to decrease 0.3 per cent. The immediate impact of the British pound will also cause the IT spending patterns to shift as prices for IT will increase." Some changes are expected. In financial services, some EU countries are expected to invest more.

"There are other countries, such as the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Ireland that are also increasing their IT spend to contend as a viable alternative to banks in the UK. We are seeing examples of many banks in talks with these countries to examine the possibility of moving their operations outside of the UK."

Complementary webinar, "IT Spending Forecast, 3Q16 Update: Impacts of Brexit Not Limited to the U.K.”, is available on this link.